Gagan Biyani

Gagan Biyani
Known for Sprig, Udemy, Lyft

Gagan Biyani is an Indian American[1] serial entrepreneur, marketer, and journalist.[2][3] He is CEO and co-founder of the mobile meals on demand service Sprig. He is also the co-founder of the online learning platform Udemy, the Growth Hackers Conference, and was formerly a growth advisor at Lyft.[4][5]

Career

In 2009, Biyani co-founded Udemy, one of the first MOOC platforms.[2] At Udemy, Biyani leads investor relations, finance, business development, public relations, operations and user acquisition.[3] He was responsible for raising the company's first $2.4 million in venture capital, hiring 10 of Udemy's first 20 employees and managing the team that created over $2 million in sales in the platform's first 18 months.[3] Prior to Udemy, Biyani held positions at Accenture and Microsoft.[3]

After Udemy, Biyani spent six months as the interim head of marketing at Lyft.[2][4] At Lyft, Biyani led supply and demand acquisition for the company's launch in Los Angeles.[6] During the same time Biyani founded the "Growth Hackers Conference" which has featured speakers including Stan Chudnovsky, Simon Tisminezky, Ivan Kirigin, Elliot Shmukler, and others.[7]

Biyani was a journalist at TechCrunch where one of his articles resulted in an FTC investigation and lawsuit, as reported by The New York Times.[3][5] He has also written for The Next Web, Quora, Medium, and Mashable.[8][9]

Sprig

In 2013, Biyani co-founded Sprig, a food delivery service which has raised $1.2 million in seed funding from Battery Ventures and notable angel investors such as Andrew McCollum, co-founder of Facebook, and Justin Waldron, co-founder of Zynga.[10][11] He got the idea while working at Lyft, when a friend suggested he applied the model to food.[2] He left Lyft in April 2013 to execute the idea.[2] The startup allows users to order a balanced meal, which is then prepared in Sprig’s industrial kitchen and get it delivered in 15–20 minutes.[2] Sprig's chef is Nate Keller, Google’s former executive chef.[10]

In March 2014, Sprig raised $10 million in Series A funding from Greylock Partners with Battery Ventures and Accel participating. As part of the funding, Greylock partner Simon Rothman is joining Sprig’s board.[12]

References

  1. ↑ http://www.indiawest.com/news/business/food-delivery-start-up-sprig-raises-million/article_b98d9836-e9dd-11e4-a81d-cb3198745d05.html
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 DEAMICIS, CARMEL. "Lyft's former interim head of growth thinks food is the next big startup market". pandodaily.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 GERBER, SCOTT. "Udemy Founder Gagan Biyani Answers Reader Questions [LIVE CHAT]". Mashable.
  4. 1 2 "New iPhone app offers healthy dinners for delivery in San Francisco". ABC News.
  5. 1 2 Warner, Andrew. "How Udemy's First-Time Founder Raised $1 Million For His Startup – with Gagan Biyani". Mixergy.
  6. ↑ Greechan, Jonathan. "Gagan Biyani Selected as a Top Startup Mentor of 2012". Founder Institute.
  7. ↑ "Growth Hackers Conference". Growth Hackers Conference.
  8. ↑ "Author: Gagan Biyani". The Next Web.
  9. ↑ "How did Udemy get 5,000 courses online so quickly?". Quora.
  10. 1 2 Lawler, Ryan. "With $1.2 Million In Seed Funding, Sprig Launches To Bring Fast, Healthy Meals To SF Eaters For $12 Each". TechCrunch.
  11. ↑ Frojo, Renée. "Ex-Google chef, tech veteran launch food delivery service". San Francisco Business Times.
  12. ↑ Rao, Leena. "Sprig Raises $10M From Greylock To Bring Healthy, Inexpensive Meals To Your Door". TechCrunch.


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